Air conditioning apparatus



Oct. 22, 1940. B. 5. BLACK AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 51, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet J.

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Get. 22, 1940. 5 BLACK AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed 001;. 51, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet Jzvee 722 2)? Blan 250% E. Black Patented Oct. 22, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Application October 31, 1938, Serial No. 238,817

3 Claims.

This invention relates to air-conditioning apparatus and, more particularly, to a relatively small, portable, self-contained air-conditioner which requires no other outside connection than one to a source of energy and a hose or the like for evacuating heated air to the outdoors.

The principal object of the invention is to provide such an air-conditioner that takes up little space, can easily be carried from one room to another, costs relatively little to manufacture and to operate and does not require constant attention, being entirely automatic in operation.

Another object of the invention consists in creating particularly eflicient means of refrigeration within the limits of such a small apparatus, thus reducing the cost of operation, .and making it durable and practically fool-proof.

. Still another object is to provide such an apparatus with means for adjusting it to different requirements. as to the condition of the air treated therein.

Further objects of the invention will become apparent as this specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention more or less diagrammatically, Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the cabinet enclosing the apparatus, Fig. 2 a section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1, on an enlarged scale, Fig. 3 a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig, 2, all looking in the direction indicated by the respectivearrows, Fig. 6 a fragmentary vertical section of a part of the apparatus, Fig. 7 a 5 section taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6, and Fig.

8 a top plan View of the part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 7.

Referring now more particularly ,to the drawings, it will be noted that the apparatus is completely enclosed in' a cabinet designated in general by the reference numeral l|. tribute to a clearer understanding of this invention if it is stated right here that this cabinet is contemplated to have approximately the following dimensions: 12 inches in length, 10 inches in width and 14 inches inheight. The rear wall |2 and'the'front wall l3 of the cabinet are provided with open-work registers I5 and I6 respectively, of a kind best shown in Fig. l, for the inlet of air to be conditioned: andlthe. outlet of the conditioned air, respectively, A compartment ll. is formed inf-the rear-por tion of the cabinet By a partition l8, Another compartment-"l9 isqformed in the front part of the cabinet by a partition 20 which, however,

It may condoes not extend all the way to the bottom of the cabinet, thus allowing communication between the compartment 9 and the central compart- T ment 2| of the cabinet, located between the par titions l8 and 20. The bottom front part of 5 the cabinet contains a brine tank 22 and a miniature centrifugal pump 23 pumping" the brine into a system of sprinkler pipes 24 which sprinkle the brine in the form of a mist all overthe compartment 2| and particularly over sets of scrub- 10 her plates 25. The air to be conditioned, entering through-the register l5, as shown by arrows, passes over these wet scrubber plates 25, where it is cleaned of dust and other solid particles of foreign matter, down into th egcompartment 2|, 5 then up into the compartment I9, passing on its Way over baffie plates 26 which retain any drops of water that may be carried along by the air stream, and is then expelled through the register 5 by a rotating fan, 21 mounted on a shaft 20 28- which is journaled in the partitions l8 and 20 and carries on its free end projecting into the compartment I! a pulley 29 driven by means of a belt 30 from a pulley 3| mounted on the shaft of a small motor 32 located in the bottom part 25 of the compartment Another pulley 33 is also mounted on this motor shaft and drives, by means of a belt 34 and pulley 34a a hollow shaft 35, journaled in the partition I8, the function of i which 'will be described more particularly here- 30 inafter. The pulley 33 is provided with a clutch 36, connected by a flexible shaft 31 to a knob 38 on the outside of the front wall l4, by means' of which the clutch 36 may be operated to en gage the pulley 33 with, and disengage .it from, 5 the motor shaft. As may best be seen in Fig. 2, the brine circulating pump 23 is also connected to this motor shaft and driven thereby.

As will be seen in Fig. 6, the shaft 35 is hollow and carries, on one end, within the compart- 40 ment 2|, a hollow member' 39 which will hereinafter be designated as the e aporator bell. The other end of the shaft :3 rotatably carried in the wall 40 of a housing enerally indicated by the numeral 4| and carries; rigidly mounted 45 thereon, within the housing 4|, the head 42/ of a hollow, drum's haped member generally designated-by the numeral 43 which willhereinafter be, referred to as the condenser bell.

- opposite head 44 of the condenser-bell 4 3 is' ri'g-" .50 idly connected to another hollow shaft 45 which? "is rotatable in the bearingin the rear wall '46 of ..;the housing, and in anotherlbearingficarried 'by'vthe rear wall |3 ofithe .cabinet -.-Also rigidly mounted on the shafts 35 and 45' are the spokes 41 and 48, respectively, of a fan structure carrying fan blades 49 within the housing 4| around the condenser bell 43. All around the out-' side of the latter and communicating with its interior are provided pipe-coils 50 for a purpose which will appear hereinafter. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the housing 4| has an outlet extending to the outside of the cabinet through a side-wall 52 of the same, to which outlet a hose or the like may be attached to lead the heated air from the condenser bell out of the room in which the apparatus is set up, into the open, through a window or other suitable aperture. The housing 4| is also provided withsuitable air inlet apertures, not shown in the drawings.

As shown in Fig. 6, the hollow shaft 45 serves as a sealed oil reservoir and has its left end tapered to terminate in a bearing 53 for a shaft 54 carrying, rotatably thereon, a drum-shaped compressor or rotor housing 55, loosely supported, at its opposite side, in the right-hand end of the hollow shaft 35.

Rigidly mounted on the shaft 54, within the rotor housing 55, is a rotor-compressor 56 consisting of a hub 51 and curved rotor blades 58. A lead weight 59 is attached to the bottom of the rotor housing 55 to keep it from rotating by friction with the shafts 35 and 54. On the outside of the bearing end 53 of'the shaft 45 is rigidly mounted'a large gear 60 meshing with a small gear 6| rigidly mounted on a spindle 62 carried by the rotor housing 55. On the same spindle 62 is rigidly mounted a large gear 63 meshing with a small gear 64 keyed to the shaft 54 which, as will readily be understood, is thereby rotated at a very much higher speed than the shaft 45. A lubricating channel 65 is provided in the shaft 53 extending from the bearing 53 to the bearing 66 in the head of the rotor housing 55 from which lubricating oil is carried by an oil tube 61 to the bearing 68 of the rotor housing in the hollow shaft 35, thus all three bearings 53, 66 and 68 being lubricated by oil from the reservoir in the hollow shaft 45.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 5, 7 and 8, it will be seen that one head of the rotor housing 55 is provided with a plain aperture 69 which, as will hereinafter appear, serves as an inlet for refrigerant vapor into the rotor housing from the hollow shaft 35. A curved tube has an inlet into it from, and an outlet from it into, the rotor housing 55, as well as a branch H on it, the purpose of which will be set forth further along in this specification.

The aggregate comprising the housing 4| with all the mechanism enclosed therein, the shaft 35 and the evaporator bell 39 constitutes the refrigerating unit of the air-conditioning apparatus and relatively low pressures.

Now, when the motor 32, connected to an 'outside source of energyfor instance an electric motor connected by a cord to an electric light housing 55 to rotate around therein and ejecting it, in the form of discs or pistons imprisoning between them portions of the refrigerant vapor which will thereby be compressed by the kinetic energy of the mercury pistons, into the tube 10. When the alternate layers of mercury and refrigerant reach the branch II, the compressed refrigerant, following the path of least resistance, will puff out of the branch H and drop into the condenser bell 43 where it will be condensed, as shown at 12, by dissipating its heat, assisted by the condenser coils 50 and the action of the fan blades 49, and carried, through the pipe 13, into the evaporator bell 39. The liquid mercury, however, being heavier and non-volatile, will not issue out of the branch pipe H, but will continue its travel in the tube 10 and return into the compressor.

In the evaporator bell 39, which also rotates with the shaft 35, the condensed refrigerant will be evaporated, thus chilling the evaporator bell and thereby the circumambient air and the brine mist. This air, which has first been washed and filtered by the scrubber plates 25, as 'hereinbefore explained, and deprived of its humidity by contact with the chilled brine mist, will then pass through the baffles 26 and be expelled into the room by the fan 21.

The evaporated refrigerant then pours back in the form of vapor from the evaporator bell into the compressor through the hollow shaft 35 and the inlet aperture 69 opening thereinto, and the cycle is repeated continuously, as long as the refrigerating unit is kept running. The compressor and condenser form an intercommunicating sealed unit which is kept under a low vacuum. The intensity of the cooling can be regulated by the speed of the motor which, in the case of an electric motor, as here contemplated, may be done and another thermometer 16 indicating the temperature of the air issuing from the apparatus may be provided, as shown in Fig. 1.

Finally, a gauge I! indicating the level of the brine in the brine tank 22 may also be provided, actuated by any desired liquid level indicating device, not shown here, as it does not constitute a part of this invention. In the same manner, any known means, not shown in the drawings,

may be provided for removing, from time to time, sediment accumulating in the brine tank from the impurities washed out of the air.

The small apparatus herein described is not intended to reduce the room temperature to a very low degree, but only moderately, as it is a well-known fact that a reduction of the room temperature to a few degrees below the outside temperature is all that is necessary to create a feeling of comfort and, within this limitation, the apparatus constitutes a very efiicient air-conditioner, as it also washes, filters and dehumidifies the air, when required.

1. In an air-conditioning:apparatus, a refrigcrating unit comprising, in combination, a hollow shaft, ahollow member serving as the evaporator mounted on one end of said shaft to rotate therewith, said shaft opening into said evaporator; another hollow shaft coaxial with said first mentioned shaft, spaced therefrom longitudinally and serving as a sealed oil reservoir; a substantially drum-shaped member rigidly mounted on both of said shafts in the space between them, thus causing them to rotate together, and serving as the condenser; a third shaft rotatably journaled in the open end of said second mentioned shaft and in a bearing within the end of said first mentioned shaft; a compressor-rotor rigidly mounted on said third mentioned shaft; a rotor-housing enclosing said compressor-rotor, containing a predetermined quantity of a heavy liquid and communicating with the interior of said first mentioned hollow shaft; a pipe leading out of said rotor housing, and back into it, a branch on said pipe opening into said condenser; a pipe carrying condensed refrigerant from said condenser into said evaporator; a series of fan blades around the periphery of said condenser, mounted on spokes radiating from and rigidly secured to either of said first and second mentioned shafts; means for driving said first mentioned shaft from a motor; means for transmitting power from said second-mentioned shaft to said third-mentioned shaft at an increased speed; means for regulating the speed of said motor and means for disconnecting the driving connection from said motor to said first-mentioned shaft.

2. In a refrigerating unit of the character described in claim 1, a rotor-compressor containing liquid mercury and means for compressing a refrigerant vapor in said compressor by the kinetic energy of discs of the mercury imprisoning refrigerant vapor between them, due to the centrifugal 'force imparted to the mercury by the rotation of the blades of said rotor.

3. A relatively small, portable, self-contained air-conditioning apparatus requiring no outside connections other than a connection to a source of energy and a duct for evacuating heated air to the atmosphere, comprising, in combination, all enclosed in a cabinet provided with air inlet and outlet apertures, a refrigerating unit, air washing and filtering means, means for expelling the conditioned air from the cabinet, a motor adapted to actuate said refrigerating unit, air washing and filtering means and air expelling means; the refrigerating unit consisting of a compressor enclosed Within a condenser bell and of an evaporator bell; the air washing and filtering means consisting of a brine tank, a brine circulating pump, a system of sprinkler pipes fed by said pump and a set of scrubber plates wetted by the brine spray issuing from said sprinkler pipes.

BLANTON E. BLACK. 

